Fall FP+ availability is awful!

[Princess Sparkle]

Question about booking FP+, for the experts since this is new since my last trip.

When our window opens at midnight (in a few weeks), would it be wise to have DH and I working at separate computers to book? Maybe put him on the "easy" days and me on the A&E hunt? Or both of us hunting for A&E and 7dmt then focusing on the other stuff? Or does having two people logged in for the same reservation break things?

I'm trying for any advantage I can get since A&E and 7dmt are on the top of our lists (just like a million other people!)

We did this last week. DH was incharge of AK and dHS while i did MK and Epcot. We were done with 8 days worth FP by 12:15. Not to mention i gor A&E twice. Start from your last day backwards then u have more chances of A&E

 

[EvieBug]

We did this last week. DH was incharge of AK and dHS while i did MK and Epcot. We were done with 8 days worth FP by 12:15. Not to mention i gor A&E twice. Start from your last day backwards then u have more chances of A&E

Thanks! Was your DH just logged in as himself? I am hoping we don't both have to log as me for rights to book or anything. my hub hasn't logged in at all yet so I'd want to have him set up before the big day!

 

[Princess Sparkle]

We were both logged in under one account.

 

[Princess Sparkle]

My husband was completely new to this all so i just ran him through the steps and handed him the FP wish list and he did great !

 

[newestkg06]

I just tried to switch Tower of Terror to Great Movie Ride on 9/20 (Sunday, a CL 4 day) and NO GMR is available. Blech.

 

[wdw4rfam]

We were both logged in under one account.

Good to know. We did that with our ADRs. Wasn't sure if it would work with fp or not.

 

[LuvDaisy&Minnie]

I just tried to switch Tower of Terror to Great Movie Ride on 9/20 (Sunday, a CL 4 day) and NO GMR is available. Blech.

Because of those stinking tiers at DHS, you can't switch TOT to Great movie Ride. TOT is tier 2 and Great Movie Rise is tier 1.

 

[newestkg06]

Because of those stinking tiers at DHS, you can't switch TOT to Great movie Ride. TOT is tier 2 and Great Movie Rise is tier 1.

OH! Duh. Thanks for the reminder there.
It was still frustrating. We got TSMM and Star Tours, but I had wanted to change TOT since both of my boys decided it was probably too scary and one is afraid of heights. All that's left: Frozen Sing Along (which we aren't interested in), LMA, Indy, Disney Jr, VoLM, or Muppets. None of the rest really need a fastpass. I guess we could do one for Indy or Muppets since we are at least going to do those..... Right now, I'm just keeping ToT in case the boys change their minds. Hopefully, with the lower crowds, the wait for GMR won't be so bad and we can do it anyway.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

OH! Duh. Thanks for the reminder there.
It was still frustrating. We got TSMM and Star Tours, but I had wanted to change TOT since both of my boys decided it was probably too scary and one is afraid of heights. All that's left: Frozen Sing Along (which we aren't interested in), LMA, Indy, Disney Jr, VoLM, or Muppets. None of the rest really need a fastpass. I guess we could do one for Indy or Muppets since we are at least going to do those..... Right now, I'm just keeping ToT in case the boys change their minds. Hopefully, with the lower crowds, the wait for GMR won't be so bad and we can do it anyway.

I saw in a post on Josh's blog that the GMR had a longer wait them TOT, the other day!

 

[abyrd86]

For our trip October 16-24, I was able to get everything but A&E for my daughter. She has decided that she will be ok rope dropping for them. Last year, I spent hours on end trying to secure two for us and ended up getting them within 3 days of our trip! Glad I don't have to do that this year! If we have to wait a bit, we will.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Just to be clear...I had no problems getting anything EXCEPT A&E. I don't think anyone has any problems ANY time of year getting anything at 60 days, except for A&E, Wishes, and MSEP during party season. If none of those interest you, you'll be fine.

I actually found that scheduling our FP+s were easier this time around than in the past, mainly because since A&E was completely gone for even one person, I didn't have to separate the four of us into individual times, which took a lot of time to do in the past. Availability also seemed better for a party of 4 for all the rides. In the past, I've had to split us up even at 60 days to get Peter Pan, TSMM, and 7DMT at the exact times I've wanted. I really don't think that anyone should worry that October is the new July.

 

[newestkg06]

I think availability at 60 days is fine. The problem is if you want to change times around, or you aren't staying on property. Then there isn't much availability/flexibility, which I think kind of sucks.

 

[LilyWDW]

*Shrug* I had no issues getting ADRs or FP+ for my October trip. Sadly I have since had to cancel said trip, but I had great reservations at the times and days I wanted. I didn't even do my ADRs at the 180+ and still have no trouble.

Every year people freak out about crowds in October. It will NOT be anything close to summer crowds. People said the same things "OMG it will be SOOO crowded" last year and it was wonderful. If you go near the holiday weekend then yea you will see more people, but otherwise October is not at all crowded (well, except weekends at Food and Wine).

 

[jtowntoflorida]

*Shrug* I had no issues getting ADRs or FP+ for my October trip. Sadly I have since had to cancel said trip, but I had great reservations at the times and days I wanted. I didn't even do my ADRs at the 180+ and still have no trouble.

Every year people freak out about crowds in October. It will NOT be anything close to summer crowds. People said the same things "OMG it will be SOOO crowded" last year and it was wonderful. If you go near the holiday weekend then yea you will see more people, but otherwise October is not at all crowded (well, except weekends at Food and Wine).

And as an extension of this...when you see Just Back threads, they're going to fall into two categories: (1) "OMG IT IS SO CROWDED IN OCTOBER I AM NEVER EVER GOING AGAIN!" and (2) "Crowds were great, we did everything except the mega-headliners with under 20 minute waits." Group #1 will follow up by saying they went to the MK on non-party days because they want to see Wishes, and Group #2 will say they went to the MK on party days to avoid the crowds, and only hopped to MK one night (Wednesday) for MSEP and Wishes. It's inevitable.

 

[LilyWDW]

And as an extension of this...when you see Just Back threads, they're going to fall into two categories: (1) "OMG IT IS SO CROWDED IN OCTOBER I AM NEVER EVER GOING AGAIN!" and (2) "Crowds were great, we did everything except the mega-headliners with under 20 minute waits." Group #1 will follow up by saying they went to the MK on non-party days because they want to see Wishes, and Group #2 will say they went to the MK on party days to avoid the crowds, and only hopped to MK one night (Wednesday) for MSEP and Wishes. It's inevitable.

Agreed. Last October I went to MK one night for Wishes (had the dessert party). I will admit that it was packed. But of course it was! When you have party nights 4 nights a week, that limits the number of nights that MK is open to other guests. So everyone who wants to see the parade or fireworks will HAVE to be there on those nights. Plus you also have the people who say "I won't waste a day of my ticket when MK closes at 7..." who don't understand that you can get SO much done on those early close days.

I also sometimes have to giggle because I can be in the same park as another person who will be complaining about these huge crowds and lines, yet I have yet to wait more then 15 minutes for anything. No idea what's happening there besides the fact they must just have bad luck.

 

[NittanyKK]

We are going 10/16-10/24 and got everything we wanted!! Keep checking back and hopefully you will snag the ones your looking for too!!

Those are my exact dates too!! Getting close, woohoo

This was actually my first time booking fastpasses 60 days out because I typically don't stay on site... even though it was slightly stressful, I stayed up until midnight and was able to get everything we wanted going in. We did have to adjust a few things on our schedule but were able to make it work. Much much better than booking only 30 days out so to me, it was pretty exciting!

 

[tinkerbella16]

Just to be clear...I had no problems getting anything EXCEPT A&E. I don't think anyone has any problems ANY time of year getting anything at 60 days, except for A&E, Wishes, and MSEP during party season. If none of those interest you, you'll be fine.

I actually found that scheduling our FP+s were easier this time around than in the past, mainly because since A&E was completely gone for even one person, I didn't have to separate the four of us into individual times, which took a lot of time to do in the past. Availability also seemed better for a party of 4 for all the rides. In the past, I've had to split us up even at 60 days to get Peter Pan, TSMM, and 7DMT at the exact times I've wanted. I really don't think that anyone should worry that October is the new July.

Good to know, as I have zero interest in using fps for A&E or parades and fireworks! Also I shouldn't have any issues since I am only securing fps for 1 person.. Me myself and I! I have friends I'll be meeting up with but I am not worried about making sure all of our fps are the same.

 

[Meeko5]

And as an extension of this...when you see Just Back threads, they're going to fall into two categories: (1) "OMG IT IS SO CROWDED IN OCTOBER I AM NEVER EVER GOING AGAIN!" and (2) "Crowds were great, we did everything except the mega-headliners with under 20 minute waits." Group #1 will follow up by saying they went to the MK on non-party days because they want to see Wishes, and Group #2 will say they went to the MK on party days to avoid the crowds, and only hopped to MK one night (Wednesday) for MSEP and Wishes. It's inevitable.

My first MK day is Tues, party day - then ending our trip at MK on Friday, a non-party day. Now I'm nervous about doing MK on a non-party day at all

We are first timers, so I'm sure it will seem super crowded to us either way haha.

 

[patdoc98]

We are first timers, so I'm sure it will seem super crowded to us either way haha.

Yes, it will!! Going last year for the first time ever with kids, and the first time since 2007 overall, my wife and I were shocked at the sheer volume of people everywhere. But thanks to a lot of preparation (and DISBoards, and EasyWDW, and especially using FPs and rider swaps) we had a fantastic time and only waited in a couple of lines longer than 20 minutes over 8 park days. We only went to MK on party days last year, but we're doing one non-party day this year, to see the nighttime stuff.

On a Friday non-party day, or any other higher-crowd day, some things that we think are nice: Enchanted Tales with Belle FP (feels like a quiet, long-ish break), People Mover (line moves quickly and then it's peaceful on the ride), Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor (very fun, and you'll be able to get into the next show, even in mid-afternoon in the fall), using any rider swaps you accrued earlier, doing a table service meal, or just planning to grab a snack and people watch for awhile....

 

[FunkyDuckToo]

Haven't been back to WDW since 2010...so this whole FP+ system is new to me...and can I say SCARY. My reservation window opens tomorrow at midnight and I am terrified that I will not know what I am doing. Getting ready to watch some YouTube Vids to learn how the whole thing works. ...did I stress enough how much I have no idea what I'm doing!